The present invention relates to a semiconductor power module and a drive system for an electric motor. For example, the present invention relates to a semiconductor power module for driving an electric motor.
A power module is an example of semiconductor devices (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-68810 and Published Japanese Translation of PCT International Publication for Patent Application, No. 2008-535255). An intelligent power module (IPM) is known as a power module. The IPM incorporates a drive circuit for driving an electric motor based on a drive signal from an external device, and a protection circuit for protecting the IPM itself.
The power module is packaged, and various types of packages are produced. For example, various types of packages have different rated currents. Although there are various types of packages for power modules, many of the packages have the same shape. This may cause a problem that when a package for a power module is mounted on a printed wiring board in a production line, a package different from the package that is to be mounted on the printed wiring board is erroneously mounted on the printed wiring board.
For example, if an improper package with a rated current of 15 A is mounted on a product in which a package with a rated current of 15 A is to be mounted, the current necessary for the product can be supplied, so that the product operates as if the package were mounted thereon normally. However, in effect, the product operates in an overcurrent state, which may cause a failure in the product. For this reason, there is a demand for a mechanism capable of easily detecting erroneous mounting of a power module package.
As a method for detecting erroneous mounting, a method can be employed in which a label for identifying the type of a package is attached to the package and the label is visually checked by an operator in a production line. However, in this method, the size of the label is extremely small and the label may be hidden behind other implementation modules such as a radiator plate. Accordingly, there is a problem that it takes the operator a lot of time and effort.